Book Review: Myths & Legends: Knights of the Round Table by Daniel Mersey

Pros: quick summaries of notable stories, timeline of when stories were written, interesting text boxes with additional information, mentions alternate spellings/versions

Cons: as mentioned in the introduction there are too many knights and stories to cover them all

As with the other books in Osprey’s Myths and Legends series, this is a great introduction if you’re interested in Arthurian Legends.  The author, Daniel Mersey, wrote a volume on King Arthur, and this volume on the knights is meant to accompany it in fleshing out the legends.  

The book has entertaining synopses of several of the earliest legends about Arthur’s knights, told by Chretien de Troyes and his contemporaries in the late 12th Century.  There are several stories about Lancelot and Gawain, as well as Tristan and Isolde, Yvain, Erec, Balin and Beaumains.

If you don’t know much about the knights, this is a fantastic introduction, with text boxes breaking up the stories that have added information regarding where different characters were popular, alternate spellings, which ones potentially came first, etc.  The literary timeline’s also great, showing when the different stories were written.

It’s an attractive edition with reprints of several images that accompanied older editions of the stories as well as new illustrations by Alan Lathwell.

Of course, with such a slim volume a lot is going to be left out.  The author mentions that in his introduction and includes a supplementary reading and watching list (including preferred translations for the texts) for those who want to learn more.

Shout-Out: The Guard by Peter Terrin

In the near future, Harry and Michel live in the basement of a luxury apartment block, guarding the inhabitants. No one goes outside. The world might be at war, it might even have been plunged into nuclear winter. No one knows.

But one weekend, all of the residents leave the block, one by one. All but the man on floor 29. Harry and Michel stick to their posts. All they know, all they can hope for, is that if they are vigilant, the "Organization" will reward them with a promotion to an elite cadre of security officers. But what if there were no one left to guard?

Blog Stats for 2014

I've been posting my reading statistics for the past few years (2012, 2013) as a way of seeing what I'm reading with regards to subgenres and genders.  Here are my stats for 2014.

It turns out I read fewer books this year than the past 2 years, though I did read more history books (which take more time than fiction).  I had a fairly even male/female ratio, though that was due less to effort and more because several authors I like had sequels out.  

    

Gender breakdown:

male 18

female 22

both 2 (one collection, one book by 2 authors)

unknown 1

Subgenre breakdown:

Science fiction  18

     adult    8

     YA       10

Fantasy   22

     epic/traditional   13

     urban   5

     YA   4

Horror   3 (including one collection)

Total: 43

I also read:

graphic novels   5

history books   10

poetry   1

biography   1

Overall total: 60

So many amazing books came out last year and I was only able to read a small portion of them.  I'm hoping to catch up on some of them, but realistically I'm not sure how many I'll get to since I'm sure there will be an equal number of amazing books out this year as well.  Overall I think I balanced things well, both with genre and gender.  I tried to read more lesser known (ie underhyped) books, which I'll try to do again this year.  It's always nice being the person recommending a book no one else has heard of (even as you decry the fact that no one's heard of this AMAZING book).  And yeah, expect more history posts in general this year.

Shout-Out: The ABLES by Jeremy Scott

Philip Sallinger has just been informed about his genetically-inherited telekinetic abilities, and has no idea how his blindness will affect them. Tomorrow, he starts his first day at a high school exclusively for empowered kids, but he'll face adversity right out of the gate, as he finds himself segregated and ignored with the other disabled students in a superhero version of a Special Education class. As the entire city of Freepoint faces a devastating threat, and the town leadership chooses bureaucratic infighting over actual preparation, Philip and his friends must find a way to work together to maximize their powers and overcome their disabilities. A mysterious figure has begun making unannounced visits to Freepoint, kidnapping key figures, digging up ancient artifacts, and taunting Phillip's group of friends with tantalizing clues and maddening riddles. Will Phillip and company decipher the clues and solve the mystery before a dark shadow falls over the entire town and threatens to cover the entire planet in a permanent darkness?

ETA: I posted this when I did because Amazon had a listing for the book showing a January 2015 release date.  I was surprised that I didn't hear anything more about the book (reviews, interviews, etc.) as the author does the Cinema Sins videos.  In February I saw a Cinema Sins video talking about the upcoming release, which now had a May 15th publication date.  I'm not sure what that January date was (placeholder maybe?).  Anyway, sorry for any confusion this caused.  The book is now available for preorder.

2015 Blog Resolutions

So it's a new year again, a time for fresh starts and, well, let's be honest, doing the same old thing, because that's what we're used to doing.

I didn't get much reading done over the holidays so I'm currently catching up on some review books. I'll have those reviews up in the coming weeks, though I may not get a book a week this year the way I somehow managed for most of last year.

I did pretty well with the history reading last year, and I'm hoping to continue that this year while still reviewing a good number of new and old SFF titles.

I would like to bring back a column I tried to start... last year?, but that work and other things got in the way of called Reading Unbound.  The point of the column is to highlight authors outside the regular circles.  If I can get it up and running it's a bit time consuming so it wouldn't be a weekly thing, but I may throw it into my Friday circuit.

I've also wanted to do a series of pieces on medieval plants and what they were used for.  I've several books to research this in, but again, it would be time consuming, so I'll see if I get that going or not.

I'm going to keep doing the shout-out posts.  I like promoting things that otherwise fly under the radar.  And I really miss suggesting books to people.  It was one of the best aspects of being a bookseller.

If there's a column you love and want me to keep or if you have suggestions for my blogging, leave a comment. :)

Book Review: The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley

Pros: lots of intrigue, lots of action, lots of unexpected plot twists, fascinating characters, brilliant writing

Cons: middle drags a bit, lots of swearing

Note: this is book two of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, and as such both the synopsis and review contain spoilers for book one.  If you haven’t read The Emperor’s Blades, it’s a fantastic fantasy novel.

Picking up immediately where The Emperor’s Blades left off, the novel continues to follow the murdered Emperor Sunlitan’s children: Kaden, heir to the throne, is now able to enter the vaniate and use the Kenta gates built by the Csestriim; Valyn, is considered a traitor by the Ketral under whom he studied for the past 10 years, learning how to kill to protect the Empire; and Adare, who leaves the capital to find an army she can use to wrestle power from the general il Tornja.

There is so much going on in this book.  The characters all travel a lot to get closer to their various aims, discover those aims need to change, and in the course of the book change drastically as people.  It’s fantastic seeing characters react to situations based on limited and often faulty information, make decisions that affect their future - often very negatively - and watch them muddle through.  The book feels more like reading history than a structured work of writing.  Alliances change, trust is misplaced and/or broken, characters do things they regret and see things they’re helpless to stop.

Several battles pepper the book and the climax revolves around a war.  There’s a lot of action, blood and gore.  There’s also a lot of politicking, much of which went in directions I did not expect, especially in Kaden’s storyline.

The characters are varied in how they act, react and change.  They remain entertaining and engaging throughout the novel, though I did find that the middle of the book dragged a bit, especially around some of Adare’s arc.  The ending was fantastic though, and sets things up for what ought to be an amazing third book.

There is a lot of swearing, which fits the characters but isn’t something I’m particularly keen on.  I’d place this on the lighter side of grimdark, because most of the characters remain sympathetic, even as they often end up doing horrible things.  It feels like a cross between Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy and Daniel Abraham’s Dagger and the Coin series.

I really recommend this series.

Out January 13th.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming in February, 2015

Once again this list was compiled using Amazon's Canadian website and, as such, reflects Canadian release dates.  If you know a book that's missing, please mention it in the comments and I'll add it in.

Hardcover:

Half the World – Joe Abercrombie

Dark Intelligence – Neal Asher

Impulse – Dave Bara

Karen Memory – Elizabeth Bear

Falestian Legend – Clifford Boyer

The Catalyst – Helena Coggan

Empire – John Conolly & Jennifer Ridyard

Emissary – Betsy Dornbusch

Shadow – Will Elliott

Castaway Planet – Eric Flint & Ryk Spoor

Medusa’s Daughter – Jonathan Scott Fuqua

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances – Neil Gaiman

The Peripheral – William Gibson

Righteous Fury – Markus Heitz

Finn Fancy Necromancy – Randy Henderson

The Eterna Files – Leanna Renee Hieber

City of Savages – Lee Kelly

Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Gamses Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds – Joseph Laycock

The Glittering World – Robert Levy

Get in Trouble: Stories – Kelly Link

Fortune’s Blight – Evie Manieri

Something Coming Through – Paul McAuley

The Autumn Republic – Brian McClellan

The Country of Ice Cream Star – Sandra Newman

Touch – Claire North

The Death House – Sarah Pinborough

Fields of Wrath – Mickey Zucker Reichert

A Darker Side of Magic – V. E. Schwab

The Mime Order – Samantha Shannon

Daydreams for Night – John Southworth

The Violent Century – Lavie Tidhar

Smith of Wootton Major – J. R. R. Tolkien

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction – Judd Trichter

Warhammer: Deathblade: A Tale of Malus Darkblade – C. L. Werner

The Monstrumologist – Rick Yancey (reprint)

Trade Paperback:

Warhammer 40K: First and Only – Dan Abnett

Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse – John Joseph Adams

Humans Rising – Jared Angel

The Gabble and Other Stories – Neal Asher

Cannonbridge – Jonathan Barnes

Under Different Stars – Amy Bartol

Doctor Who: Amorality Tale – David Bishop

Triple Word Score – Frank Cottrell Boyce

The Tropic of Serpents – Marie Brennan

Daughter of Gods and Shadows – Jayde Brooks

The Girl in the Road – Monica Byrne

Phantoms: Collected Writings – Jack Cady

Fantastic Tales: Visionary and Everyday – Italo Calvino

A Darkling Sea – James Cambias

The Diabolical Miss Hyde – Viola Carr

Conquest – John Connolly & Jennifer Ridyard

The Way Into Darkness – Harry Connolly

Doctor Who: Human Nature – Paul Cornell

As Time Goes By – Hank Davis

The Last Revolution – Lord Dunsany

Schild’s Ladder – Greg Egan

The Black Wolves – Kate Elliott

The Pilgrims – Will Elliott

The Very Best of Kate Elliott – Kate Elliott

The Wide World’s End – James Enge

Echo 8 – Sharon Lynn Fisher

Lyra’s Silence – Rob Gullette

Billy Moon – Douglas Lain

The Three – Sarah Lotz

After the Sky Fell – Mike Lynch & Brandon Barr

Mage Wars: Nature of the Beast – Will McDermott

Wolves of the Northern Rift – Jon Messenger

An Unwelcome Quest – Scott Meyer

Defiance – Adrienne Monson

Jewel and Amulet: The Jewel in the Skull and The Mad God’s Amulet – Michael Moorcock

Signal to Noise – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Of Shadow and Stone – Michelle Muto

Unseen – Amber Lynn Natusch

Awakening – Andi O’Connor

The Karma Booth – Jeff Pearce

Truth of the Ninja – T. J. Perkins

The Odds: A Post-Apocalyptic Action-Comedy – Robert Peterson

Glimpses of Destiny – B. Pine

The Originals: The Rise – Julie Plec

The Runaway Robot – Lester Del Rey

Warhammer: The Return of Nagash – Josh Reynolds

Doctor Who: The Shadow in the Glass – Justin Richards & Steve Cole

A Teach Yourself Guide: Get Started Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy – Adam Roberts

Blood Song – Anthony Ryan

The Uncanny Reader: Stories From the Shadows – Marjorie Sandor

Dendera – Yuya Sato

Shadow Study – Maria Snyder

Jaye Wells – Deadly Spells

Robot Overlords – Mark Stay

The Seal of the Worm – Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Children of Hurin – J. R. R. Tolkien

Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology – Ann Vandermmer & Jeff Vandermeer, Ed.

Cauldron of Ghosts – David Weber & Eric Flint

Little Wars and Floor Games: The Foundations of Wargaming – H. G. Wells

Over Water – Brittany Westerberg

Poisonwell – Jeff Wheeler

The Tower Broken – Mazarkis Williams

The Thing About Great White Sharks and Other Stories – Rebecca Adams Wright

Cobra Outlaw – Timothy Zahn

Mass Market Paperback:

Magic Breaks – Ilona Andrews

Outlanders: Terminal White – James Axler

Murder of Crows – Anne Bishop

Soulbound – Kristen Callihan

Demon Child – Kylie Chan

1636: Seas of Fortune – Iver Cooper

Star Wars: Honor Among Thieves – James Corey

Monster Hunter Nemesis – Larry Correia

Star Trek TOS: Savage Trade – Tony Daniel

Haterz – James Goss

Mentats of Dune – Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson

Born of Fury – Sherrilyn Kenyon

The Detainee – Peter Liney

Beacon in the Dark – Marjorie Liu

The Thorn of Dentonhill – Marshall Ryan Maresca

The Remaining: Allegiance – D. J. Molles

Crown of Renewal – Elizabeth Moon

Armageddon Rules – J. C. Nelson

Thornlost – Melanie Rawn

Uprising – Jeremy Robinson (reprint of XOM-B)

Grave Matters – Lauren Roy

Touch – Michelle Sagara

Forgotten Realms: Rise of the King – R. A. Salvatore

Influx – Daniel Suarez

Master of Plagues – E. L. Tettensor

Cherry Bomb – Kathleen Tierney

eBook:

First Contact – M. A. Abraham

Brave Men Die – Dan Adams

The Exodus Sequence: A Collection of Collected Science Fiction Novelettes – Susannah Bell

Then Frederick Ran – Nicholas Bugden

eMOTION: Surge Protector – C. Ryan Bymaster

Sarina, Sweetheart – Megan Carney

Edged Blade – J. C. Daniels

Coranox – Tony Gao & Brent Peckham

Gene.sys: Magigate Returns – Bill Gourgey

The Iron Ring – Auston Habershaw

AWOL – Traci Harding

The Becoming – Kay Ikejiani

Victory of Coins – Aiden James

Desolation – Megg Jensen

The Last Quarrel – Duncan Lay

Redemption of the Sacred Land – Mark Tyson A Time to Live - Jonas Lee

The Thin Veil Omnibus – Jodi McIsaac

Dorothy Parker Drank Here – Ellen Meister

Song of the Sea – Edwin Page

The Gatekeeper’s Key – A. Payne & N. D. Taylor

The Dark Quest – Robert Rumery

Search & Recovery – Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories – Alex Shvartsman

The Shape of Temptation – Eleri Stone

Skin – Ilka Tampke

No Time Like the Past – Jodi Taylor

Ashes and Spirits – A. D. Trosper

InkStains: February – John Urbancik

The Chronothon – Nathan Van Coops

Lords of Space – Michael Wallace

Iluminati – P. J. Webb

Born to Magic – David Wind